The Potato Liberation Front

[Gorn Captain]

I read two articles in the paper that I find are oddly connected.

Here in Belgium, there is controversy about a scientific experiment with genetically modified potatoes. Scientists are working on a new kind of superpotato, resistant to anything (much like Captain America).
Because environmentalists (The Field Liberation front) are against it, they planned to raid the field and destroy the plants.
So the goverment had the field protected by 50 police officers in riot gear.

On the other side of the country, a convict (in prison for 22 armed robberies), was sprung by four heavily armed members of his gang. The guy, who was in minimum security (because he was a model prisoner!!!), walked up to the wall, where his friends opened fire with automatic rifles.
The prison guards fled, because they are instructed "never to return fire and take cover".

Since the potatoes are better protected, my suggestion is to put the potatoes in prison (where they'll be safe) and the convicts on that field with the 50 guards in riot gear.
I think that would work out better, don't you agree?

Only in Belgium.....

[Brazoo]

Pretty funny stuff!

[MIB41]

Here's a question I'm dying to ask... What was the inmate doing time for in a minimum security prison?

[Mikey]

IMO no death penalty makes bad guys (especially prisoners) more likely to kill.

They have nothing to lose.

[Adam West]

IMO no death penalty makes bad guys (especially prisoners) more likely to kill.

They have nothing to lose.

Not sure if that makes sense to me. I would think you would have nothing to lose if you were sitting on death row in prison unless I'm just reading this wrong.

[Mikey]

Not sure if that makes sense to me. I would think you would have nothing to lose if you were sitting on death row in prison unless I'm just reading this wrong.

I ment all prisoners in general - especially ones that had long sentences

[Gorn Captain]

Here's a question I'm dying to ask... What was the inmate doing time for in a minimum security prison?

Belgium's legal system is totally messed up.
Say you kill someone.
There's no death penalty, so the sentence gets commuted to 30 years, which is the maximum, don't ask me why.
If you serve 1/3 of your sentence here, you can get paroled.
So you're down to 10 years now.
Time off for good behavior, and with a little luck you can kill someone and only do 8 years.

We don't really have an Alcatraz here, and apparently we believe that a guy with 22 armed robberies can turn his life around and enjoy handing out library books to inmates.

Our legal system is a leaky as it gets.
Our most notorious child murderer, Marc Dutroux, had the legal right to handcheck his own dossier at the courthouse. The cops escorting him went out for a smoke, and he strolled out the back door.
They caught him, and during the transport the back door of the police van swung open "because the lock didn't close properly".

You really need to kill a whole lot of people here before they decide to make an effort.

[jimsmegos]

For the sake of curiosity... does the rules/laws apply in the opposite direction... for instance if a homeowner kills a burglar. What are the laws/sentencing in regards to that situation.

I would think that with such lax laws there would be more of "Wild, wild, West" mentality.

[Gorn Captain]

For the sake of curiosity... does the rules/laws apply in the opposite direction... for instance if a homeowner kills a burglar. What are the laws/sentencing in regards to that situation.

I would think that with such lax laws there would be more of "Wild, wild, West" mentality.

No such luck. Self defense is a real joke here. You need to be "almost dead" for it to be legal. So the burglar first has to maul you to within an inch of your life, only then can you defend yourself.
Jewelers that get robbed here are usually sued and put in jail if they shoot a burglar, because "their life wasn't in danger".

A couple of years ago, a store owner had been robbed by the same guy four times in a row. (and yeah, they do put these kind of thugs back on the street in no time).
This time around, he grabbed the guy, dragged him into the street, tied him to a lamp post, and wrote "thief" on the guy's forehead with a marker.
You know how this ended?
The store owner got charged with "kidnapping and torture".

[Mikey]

Not to sound political or preachy, but looking at this from outside the box is kind of strange.

You have a country that will jail you if you openly state/suggest the holocust never happened and this same country cares so much about human rights that they have no death penalty.

They just don't seem to go together.

[jimsmegos]

Thanks GC, I appreciate the insight. It's also reassuring to know that no matter where you are on the planet the "powers that be" are equally insane in their efforts to please everyone and no one all at the same time.

Crazy.

[Gorn Captain]

Belgium's legal system is pretty messed up, but I guess we're not alone...

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Haha thanks for the laugh!